


What happened to us,

by Beanbag_icecream



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Feels, Consent Issues, Control Issues, Daddy Issues, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotionally Repressed, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Issues, Family Reunions, Feels, Lies, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Past Abuse, Past Drug Addiction, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Underage Sex, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Punishment, Relationship Issues, Repressed Memories, Reunions, Secrets, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Violence, Social Issues, Trust Issues, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Prostitution, Underage Rape/Non-con, Underage Sex, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-02-05 23:28:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12804720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beanbag_icecream/pseuds/Beanbag_icecream
Summary: Thor was worried, he was internally freaking out. Odin came up to him that morning and just dropped the news on him. Loki was returning home, Thor hadn't seen or even heard from Loki since he was six. Odin had sent Loki away to boarding school in Sweden in hopes to teach him some discipline. It was like Loki had just suddenly been erased from the family, no one spoke of him and then they moved house. Now there was no trace of him, no photos on the walls, his room was empty and there were no memories of the two of them playing together in the halls.So when Odin nonchalantly mentioned that Loki was coming home as if he was talking about him returning from a friends house, Thor didn't know how to think or even what to do.Thor didn't even know what Loki looked like anymore let alone who he was anymore. What if Loki didn't like him anymore? what if it wasn't Loki at all?





	1. airplane tickets

Thor was deep in thought as he joined the lunch line in the school cafeteria. He hadn't been able to concentrate on his school work all day and he was barely concentrating now. The line moved forward and so did Thor he was so deep in thought that he forgot to grab any food. It wasn't till he was pulling out his lunch money to pay that he noticed he hadn't grabbed anything and that was only because the lovely lunch lady had managed to grab his attention.

"Hello Odinson, that's a lovely nothing you got there. Now I didn't make it my self but I'm sure its top quality air" she chuckled with a shake of her head " now why don't you goo behind me so you can get access to the back of the food bar and actually get yourself some grub, while I serve those who actually grabbed them self some food, hmm." Thor laughed in embarrassment and tumbled over his words trying to get out an apology. The Lunch lady Mc'l'fi? Mac'daig? he could never remember her name, he did feel bad but proceded to just call her miss. Most students couldn't remember her name either and the rare few that could remember couldn't say it anyway, even teachers avoided saying her name whenever possible. 

Thor tried for an apologetic smile instead of a verbal apology and she just shook her head again, grabbed his arm and guided him towards the back of the food bar where he could grab his lunch without disturbing the line. Thor made sure to be quick, he didn't want to be there when Mrs Fox came back to refill the trays. Mrs Fox was sure to give him a tongue lashing for his incompetence, she was well known for her zero tolerance for tomfoolery. A shiver made its way up Thor's spine as he remembered what happened to Wade Wilson when he decided to put fake cockroaches in her spaghetti bolognese.  
Grabbing himself so food he got himself a sausage roll, a helping of peas, and a baked potato before rushing back to pay.  
The lunch lady just shook her head "not putting anything on that potato I see" she said, Instantly sending Thor back to get some cheese, butter and sauce. This time he successfully paid for his food and made his way to his friends.

Natasha, Tony and Steve were already sitting at their table with their food. The three of them were laughing as Nat told them the latest thing Clint had done over the weekend. The four of them had been trying to get clint to sit with them for months but he always refused and ate somewhere else. Where Thor wasn't sure but they still had hope that he would join their little gang. Alone with Starks science partner Bruce but so far he had been too shy to join.

Thor's thoughts were interrupted by a loud holler as Tony called out to him, Thor tried to offer a smile but it came off strained and stark being stark instantly picked up on it.  
"Hey, Point Break. you ok, there is something wrong with your face" Tony asked with a smirk "did one of your teachers tell you, you actually have to hand in assignments and not just think about doing them" he teased. This earned him a kick in the shin from Steve and the resounding "OW!" managed to make Thor chuckle as he took his seat next to Steve.  
"Hey, it's not like you can say anything. it's been two months and you still haven't handed in your late history assignment" Steve reprimanded.  
Natasha snickered as Tony feigned hurt at steves comment and looked up from her place beside Tony, her green eyes surveying Thors.  
"Thor, what's wrong?" she asked.  
Thor just gave her a sad smile as he played with his food. "Worry not my friends, my mind has just be occupied by recent developments" he tried to brush it off but they weren't letting him go that easy.  
"Well they must be important for it to be getting you down, I can't recall a time I have seen you frown before" Steve commented. The others nodded in agreement.  
"Come on, spill the beans" Tony pushed.  
Thor sighed "have you ever had someone you haven't seen in a while, come back in your life and your worried that they have changed and you won't like each other anymore?"  
The others looked at him puzzled before Steve spoke up  
"yeah I guess, I haven't seen my friend bucky since primary school and if we were to see each other I would be worried that he had moved on and made new friends" he said playing with his hands uncomfortably "why whats going on" he asked.  
"My brother is returning home" Thor rushed out.  
"WHAT!" they all said simultaneously, shock covering their faces. Thor was stunned by the strong reaction and went to defend his brother when Tony blurted out.  
"You have a brother?"  
Thor was surprised and he drew his eyebrows together in thought "I haven't told you about him?" he asked puzzled.  
"No," said Natasha, "we thought you were an only child"  
Steve thought for a moment "is that why there is a room we're not allowed to go in at your house? I belong to your brother?"  
Thor nodded solemnly  
"so what we talking, younger brother ran away and suddenly decided to pop back into the family?" Tony quizzed.  
Thor shook his head "No, he is older."  
"So; ran away, terminally ill, living with grandparents. whats the snoop" Tony pushed again.  
"Boarding school," Thor said and winched at their reactions "He has been attending Vanaheim boarding school" he added.  
"Weres that?" Steve asked, "I have never heard of it."  
"It's in Sweden" Thor answered sadly.  
"Wait, you moved here a few years ago right," Steve asked.  
"Yes, my family moved to Montana four years ago" Thor replied,  
"We came over to your place your first week at this school, so was he there when we came over and was just been hiding in his room all this time or, something?" Steve asked unsure of what he was saying.  
Thor frowned "no, my brother has never set foot inside the house my family currently resides in."  
"So his room is what, just box's then?" Tony asked.  
"It's empty," Thor said "no one's gone in that room since we moved in and father got rid of his old things, saying that he would have outgrown them"  
"So there's nothing for him in there, no bed nothing," Steve said. 

Thor shook his head, there was nothing but four plain white walls waiting for his brother's return. It made it all the more confusing that he was coming back so soon. Mother was out of state visiting her family and Odin hadn't organized anything so where was he supposed to sleep, none of this was making sense to him.  
"Come to think of it, I have never seen any photos that had anyone else in them but you and your parents," Natasha said breaking the silence that had settled over them.  
"My father didn't want his photo up on the wall" Thor sighed.  
"Why?" Steve asked shocked.  
"I don't know, after he left no one talks about him or even mention his name, at least not when I'm around. No one goes in his room and Father sold or threw away anything that had something to do with him. It, it was weird one minute I had an older brother who used to dote on me and then he was just gone. Without a trace, he just vanished," Thor shrugged. 

"Why did he go to boarding school?" Natasha asked.

"He liked to play pranks all the time, it got him in a lot of trouble" Thor had a smile spread across his face at a memory. "He once painted the principal's office with rainbow glitter paint. I still have no idea how he did it but it was the talk of the school for years. I think you could still see glitter on the wall when I left" the four of them laughed.  
"O my God, imagine Fury's face if we did that to him" Tony cackled, sending them all into another fit of laughter. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring at them as if they decided to take a dump in a display toilet. They had tried their best to stifle their laughter but it just turned into snorting.  
"So what your brother was sent away because he liked to play practical jokes?" Steve asked after they all managed to calm down.  
Thor gave them a sad smile as he said "he had been warned multiple times to stop but he kept going. Although it wasn't until after our father decided to invite a group of business associates over for dinner one night and Mother had made an excellent dinner, that everyone enjoyed. I offered to gather the plates wanting to be helpful and when I returned to the kitchen I found a mountain of delicious looking cupcakes. I had assumed Mother had baked them for dessert and brought the tray out to the dinner table. Everyone was excited about the surgery goodness until we bit into them that we found out they were filled with green goo that stained our faces and tongues. Father was furious that my brother would dare embarrass him in front of guests and the two of them got into a heated argument. The next day father said that he had organised for my brother to go to boarding school until he learnt how to behave, within the week he was gone." The four sat in silence but their conversation was brought to a close before any of them could make further comment.  
"We'll meet up after school and talk some more, is that ok with everyone?" Steve asked, they all agreed and headed off to class.

-/:0:\\-

Natasha ended up meeting Steve outside his locker as he was putting his books away for the day. They were chatting about their days while they waited for the other two to make an appearance. Thor arrived first with a smile on his face, obviously feeling better about the situation already. Tony's arrival was loud as per usual.  
"Hey! Point Break, you are looking chipper. So one question when do we get to meet your bro?" Tony asked enthusiastically throwing an arm over Thor's shoulder and awkwardly tried to lean against his bulkier friend. Thor smiled at his attempts to be nonchalant and pretended not to be interested.  
"He arrives tomorrow morning, father's organised something for him here at the school. I don't know what but he is coming here straight from the airport, I can't wait to see him again. I have come to realise I need not worry, everything is going to turn out great. It's going to be just like when we were kids." Thor stated with confidence before marching off ahead.  
The others looked at each other in worry.  
"Dame that's like a ten-hour straight flight, how is he supposed to go to school the same day?" Tony winched.  
"He doesn't even get a chance to catch up with his family before having to attend a new school" Steve added.  
"We don't actually know how old he is either" Natasha supplied.  
"Probably only a year older than us," said Tony.  
"Yeah, we might even be in the same classes. His probably a lot smarter than us since he was going to boarding school and all" Steve said.  
"Ha, speak for your self I'm a genius" Tony laughed as he walked away. Natasha stepped forward so she was standing next to Steve.  
"Do you think this is going to be ok?" she asked quietly.  
"I'm not sure, we can try and be friends but there's only so much we can do. Let's hope neither of them has changed too much since they last saw each other." Steve answered nervously.  
"However long ago that was," she said taking her leave as well.

-\:0:/-

Sometimes Tony would say he was lucky his locker was by the front doors and other times, he hated it. He didn't have it the worse, no that award went to those a couple of feet closer to the front doors. If the owner of those lockers wasn't careful they could be taken out by the heavy metal doors if some jerkwad threw them open as hard as the can. NO, tony like his locker because it wasn't in the blast radius of the doors that seemed to be on a hinge with no limit and no resistance but also because it didn't matter what classes he had his books where right at the center so he never had to travel in the opposite direction of his class just to grab a textbook. The reason he didn't like his locker were on days like today.

A massive thunderstorm had blown in overnight and every time someone ran through the front doors to avoid the pelting rain and violent winds, Tony would get gushed by said winds and it would ruin his perfect hair that he had spent ages making sure it looked perfect and his clothes would get wet from the rain that came with it.

He felt sorry for anyone who had to wait for the bus. It was still ten minutes until classrooms would be opened for students to get prepared for class. So the halls were filled with students trying to escape the weather, instead of loitering on the schoolyards like normal. He couldn't really go anywhere else with the building so crowded so he decided to wait by the doors since nobody else was there. Tony would rather have messed up hair and slightly damp clothes then be squished into that mob, he wasn't that vain.

Some kids had been caught up in the storm but most people managed to avoid looking like drowned rats and were enjoying the warm dry halls of the school while they waited for classes to start. Tony did find it amusing seeing the odd student go past cold and wet, they stood out from everyone else which made them easy to spot. So far every 1 in 200 had been drenched and 1 in 20 was slightly rained on.  
Tony flinched as a large thunderclap suddenly sounded through the school startling him but what had started him more was when Pepper randomly appeared at his side.  
"Dame it Pep, don't do that you scared the shit out of me" Tony gasped. Pepper was in the year above him and she had been his nice guide in his freshmen year, which he was still very thankful for. Not that he ever told the beautiful junior.  
"Sorry Tony, I just wanted to remind you that you agreed to have an interview with the school news committee sometime this week," Pepper said in that slightly annoyed tone she liked to use on him.  
"Oh yeah, sure thing Pepper. I'll remember to do that, promise" he flashed her his signature smile and she just rolled her eyes.  
"you better remember or I'm going to find someone strong enough to drag you there" she chuckled. It was then that another thunderclap shook the school along with the almighty crash of the front doors slamming against the lockers.  
A handful of students had screamed at the sudden noise and everyone's attention was grabbed by the tall dark figure in the doorway. Tony wouldn't admit it but he was scared, the man was tall over six feet and he was dressed in all black. what the hell was he doing here? His posture reminded him of something feral and his eyes looked crazed.  
'Oh God, please no. Don't let this be an attack' Tony thought frantically. there had been a shooting recently and it was all he could think of at that moment. His starting panic attack wasn't helped by the strong icy cold wind that filled the building nocking him back a few steps and the lightning that light up the sky making a terrifying silhouette of the man. 

The man was drenched and his waist long black hair was a tangled mess that had engulfed his face, leaving his pale skeletal hands as the only skin visible. Tony despite his freak out managed to make out that he was wearing a black dress shirt and slacks that were drenched in the freezing rainwater. The cloth clung to his body showing how thin he was, making him kind of looked like some Japanese ghost that had been drowned and had come back to haunt its tormenters. That thought only proceded to scare Tony further. He really needed to stop staying up late watching horror movies.

The man took a couple of steps into the school and the collective student body took the same amount back. The front doors seemed to magically swing shut by themselves, resulting in a loud bang that made everyone jump five feet in the air.  
It wasn't till the man threw his head back and raked his hand through his hair to get out of his face that Tony started to calm down, the actioned seemed calm and controlled. Every muscle in the man's body seemed to relax as if it had taken one large sigh of relief. Tony couldn't see a weapon and he wasn't making any moves to attack so that was a bonus. The man could have been a substitute teacher that had been caught up in the storm for all Tony knew and accidentally scared the life out of everybody present. The man had managed to pull his long tangled hair to the side revealing his angular face. Despite everything, the guy looks surprisingly young, to say he was over twenty-two would be pushing it. 

The dark stranger's harmonious voice cut through the silence like an arrow through the air.  
"Morning, would anyone be able to direct me to" he paused looking at a half soggy piece of paper clutched in his right hand. "To a Mr Nicholas j.Fury" he finished.  
Tony didn't know what it was but something about that sentence sounded so dangerous.


	2. faculty spy

The two-man where seated across from each other, mirroring each other's calm and false placidity. Besides their names they hadn't exchanged words, both trying to wait each other out. Fury was monitoring the young man's behaviour trying to get a read on the person neatly hidden beneath the polite mask of indifference.  
Loki Odinson was a puzzle for the stern school principal. When Odin had come to him, asking him to allow his older son to be put in the same grade as Thor. Fury had agreed to the request but now looking at him he realised he probably should have asked Odin his son's age, he was defiantly older than any of his students let alone any of his sophomores. 

Fury wasn't sure what Odin was doing but as one of the biggest donators to the school, he wasn't keen on upsetting the man. He couldn't force a full grown adult to go through high school all over again but he also needed him too. It was a strange situation that he wasn't sure how to turn to his advantage especially when the problem wouldn't say anything. Turning his attention to his paperwork Fury was hoping to irritate Loki into talking, most people didn't like being ignored and Fury was betting on him being one of them.

Loki simply leaned back and examined his nails taking is time closely studying each individual one. When he got bored of that he started combing his long fingers through the ends of his black hair that he had swept over his shoulder. Fury sighed internally as he discreetly watched the display and using the distraction to take notes on his appearance. Loki looked sickly, his skin was pale and there was next to no colour on his face beside the dark blue stains under his eyes. He was just shy of bone thin and he was sure he saw Loki struggle to sit down when he first came in. Despite the grace that his movement held, the strain in his muscles indicated that he was in pain. Loki was very different to his brother, Thor had a general appearance of perfect health; muscle-bound, a golden glow to his skin, red in his cheeks and no matter what he was always relaxed. Loki on the other hand never seemed to relax, yes his posture was of someone relaxed, leaning back resting his arm against the rest his legs crossed and his body was stretched in a slack line diagonally spread across the chair but each individual muscle was pulled taught. The image he was giving off was relaxed but he was anything but, it intrigued Fury more. Deciding that it was up to him to get the ball rolling Fury spoke first.

"Your father wants me to accept you as a student in this school," Fury said calmly. Smiling to himself as he saw the minute flinch in Loki's face when he suddenly started to speak, obviously not expecting the conversation to begin anytime soon. Loki turned his body so that he was facing Fury face on. A raven brow arched at the statement.  
"I graduated high school when I was twelve, I also have multiple degrees under my belt, yet you expect me to go to school here?" Loki asked in disbelief.

"No, your father wants you to attend class alongside your brother but I don't think that is in my or your best interest." fury said watching as Loki made a small snort. "Though I do think it is in our best interest to please your father, I need him to continue to make donations to our school and I'm sure you want to avoid any conflict. From my experience, Odin can be very stubborn. I believe we can come to a conclusion that benefits all parties involved." Fury said. Loki let out a short breathy laugh then looked away gazing out the window for a few minutes before turning back to face Fury.

"With all due respect sir but how could anything that is beneficial to you be of any benefit for me, I think fair to assume we have very conflicting interest," Loki said with a sigh turning his attention to adjusting his posture so that he was sitting perfectly straight, knees together through his feet ended up swept to the side so that he could keep his long legs close to his body, hands neatly folded in his lap. The new position allowed Fury to get a better look at him, he was surprised by the broad shoulders he was sporting. They had been obstructed from view due to the previous position, if only he had some meat on him he would have a fairly imposing figure. 

"There is an idea that might be of interest to both of us," Fury said leaning forward resting his chin upon his hands. "I need someone to be my eyes and ears, a student that monitors those around them and reports back to me. I want to know whats going on with my students and someone who can befriend them, help them with their issues. Many of our students refuse to seek help and I need someone I can trust to do their best to provide them with the help they need without scaring them away" Fury said. Loki laughed deeply leaning back in his chair. 

"You want me to be your spy?" Loki asked trying to muffle his laugh " I like this idea but tell me how am I supposed to befriend your students, I don't think any of them will want to talk to me," 

"I'm glad you like the idea and to answer your question students will likely look up to you for being older, as a mentor per-say. I'm hoping that the students will come to you looking for advice because of your maturity. It could be a long shot but to make up for the inconvenience you will have to go through, I will allow you free access to all of the facilities here and a master key so that you can go to areas of the school restricted to other students." Fury said watching Loki's reactions. 

"so what you are telling me I can have full run of the school with no limits," Loki said a smile creeping across his face.

"you will not be without limits all normal rules apply and you won't be able to use your master key privileges when other students are present" Fury stated. "Keep your head down enough that you don't get in trouble with me or vice principle Coulson and you will keep these privileges besides that you can skip classes, avoid assignments and get as much detention as you want if that means being able to get closer to some of these students. I don't really care what or how you do it as long as you don't hurt or put any of my students in danger. do you understand?" Fury said brows furrowing. 

"Oh, I understand completely" Loki smiled widened "I always wanted to be the 'bad' kid" he snickered "what are the rules on pranks, I was quite fond of them in my younger years," he asked feigning polite curiosity.

"Pranks are permissible if they don't hurt anyone and that any damage made will come out of your own pocket, depending on how bad of a day I am having you will also have to clean them up your self even if I can't find any proof that it was even you" Fury warned earning himself a wicked grin. Fury smiled to himself internally already being able to coax out the real person behind the mask just by allowing him to cause some trouble.

"Now for your 'mission', I will create a file of the student's I want you to look into, try and get as much information on them as you can and report back to me. If you find anything that might be a danger to that student or those around them I want you to tell me immediately if you can't get in contact with me and the issue needs to be solved there and then can I trust you to make the right decisions?" Fury said stressing the seriousness of his tone. Loki nodded firmly the mischief in his face transforming into a strong gave showing his full attention. "Though you won't have an official contract you will have to adopt a similar mentality to the teachers at this school, students safety comes first. everything else comes second." fury said moving to stand directly in front of him.

"I understand sir," Loki said firmly. "I while putting the lives of your students above my own and if they are ever in danger in will do everything within my power to get them out of it in one piece." 

Fury nodded "good, this is important do you know first aid and or any martial arts?" he asked watching the intense green eyes to make sure he wasn't lying. 

"yes sir, I know first aid and have trained for a while in Wushu, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Sōjutsu, sambo and a few others" Loki answered  
"they taught all that at your previous school?" fury asked surprised.  
"no sir a large amount of what I learned was from other students, though we had free access to a large gym complex," Loki said.  
Fury hummed nodding his head in thought.  
"well, maybe you can pass on some of that knowledge to my students." Fury commented "I will gather up a timetable and a map for you then send you off to your first class," fury said walking back to his desk

-/:0:\\-

Clint had taken up his usual seat at the back of the class where the desk was higher up due to the desk being on a staircase like structure. It allowed him to watch what everyone else was doing and the teacher couldn't tell if he had done his work or not.  
It wasn't that he didn't like Ms Warner he just hated her class, geography was slow, boring and he wished he could be doing anything else. Clint was thankful for which idiot decided to put the older women confined to a wheelchair in this style of classroom, even if Ms Warner suspected that any of the students were misbehaving or refusing to do their work she had to rely on the honesty of the students, to tell the truth, and being the only kid at the back of the room there was no one to dob him in for not taking notes. Ms Warner wasn't a pushover though, it was easy to get away with slacking off during class but if she got proof of you misbehaving she was a demon when it came to punishments. The stern British woman was like one of those movie spies, able to sneak up on anyone despite the creaking of her wheels. It had happened multiple times when a student had been boasting about not doing their work or making fun of the silvery blonde that she would appear out of nowhere and slap more detentions on your wrist then even vice principle Coulson thought was necessary.

Clint had learnt the hard way not to get on her bad side, but he still didn't do his work during class instead he would copy Kate Bishop's notes and in return, he would help her with archery. He obviously had the better deal but Kate didn't mind she was just happy to have someone to practice with.

The classes attention was grabbed by a knock at the door and the students all watched with mild curiosity when Ms Warner left the classroom. She had been gone for over ten minutes and slowly as time passed the class began to whisper, wondering what could be taking her so long. The class went silent as the door opened and Ms Warner, Principal Fury and someone he hadn't seen before walked into the classroom. Ms Warner looked sceptical and fury had his usually emotionless face on. The stranger, however, was a sight to behold. Long black hair was dripping water and pulled in a messy heap over his left shoulder, he looked like a drowned cat and just about as angry as one. Clint couldn't help but snicker he had managed to get on the bus and off again without getting wet and yet this dude who probably drove his own car couldn't manage to stay even the slightest bit dry. 

"Attention class" Ms Warner called out pulling the focus of the room back to her and stopping the hushed gossip that had swept the class when the stranger had entered. "I would like to introduce you to a new student, This is Loki. He will be joining us for the rest of the school year, I understand that he is older than you and that you might find that strange but please make him feel welcome" She said looking at the young man beside fury with uncertainty. "Loki feel free to pick a seat" she sighed moving back to her desk.  
The whole class erupted into murmurs as the students watched the new student with shock and confusion, the chatter grew louder as Fury leaned over and whispered something in his ear. The boy? man? Loki nodded then started to head towards a seat at the back of the class and was interrupted by Ms Warner.

"If you are going to sit in the back please at least sit next to Barton so I can keep an eye on the both of you" she sighed. 

Loki slowly turned towards Clint and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Clint grumbled and grabbed his bag from the seat next to him and moved it onto the desk, he knew that it wasn't a request and didn't want to get in trouble with the older women. Loki just lifted his chin in thanks and sat down gracefully next to him with a sigh, crossing his legs at the knee and sat up straight in his seat folding his arms in his lap. His intense green eyes staring straight ahead of him read the notes on the board.

"Class finish taking down your notes then feel free to talk amongst yourselves I need to talk to the principal about a few things and won't be here for the rest of the class" Ms Warner said looking up at the strange man sitting beside Clint, a slight hint of worry to her voice. "behave" she told them sternly before leaving the classroom. As soon as the door shut the whole class turned around and stared at the newcomer. All at once everyone started asking him questions, talking over one another in one hideous shamble of words.

"Tagga ned" Loki sighed racking a hand through his hair, causing the students to go silent for but a moment.

"Aren't you a little old to be a high school student?" one girl said.  
"You talk weird," said another sneering at him.  
"you look terrible" called a boy down near the front  
"you really could use a hairbrush" someone else called out with a snicker.  
"you're a bit of a freak," the girl closest to them said in disdain 

Loki shook his head with a chuckle saying " Av barn, fyllon och dårar får man höra sanningen." the class went quiet looking at him in confusion. then started up once again talking amongst them selfs giving sidelong looks. It wasn't till Pryde stood up on her desk hollering to the class.  
"hey cut it out, leave the poor guy alone" her face scrunched up in a disapproving frown " show some manners" she huffed before turning to Loki "Hi I'm Kitty Pryde, this is Pete Wisdom and that's Emma Frost but be careful of her if you get too close you'll get frostbite" she said jokingly earning a dirty look from Emma. "Sorry about them their idiots" she frowned slightly then looked back to him "you do speak English right? I haven't just said all that for nothing" 

Loki smiled at the young brunette a sitting in the desk across from him as she sat down slightly embarrassed.  
"Yes, I do speak English but I might be a little rusty" he gave her a charming smile nodding in greeting "it's a pleasure to meet you and your friends miss Pryde" Kitty smiled in triumph and turned to her friend Peter giving him a slight elbow to the side muttering a quite  
"I told you I could get him to talk" Loki chuckled at her glee before his attention was grabbed by the blonde sitting by her self in front of him.  
"so what language was that, I don't think I have ever heard it before," Emma said politely leaning forward showing interest.  
"It was an old Swedish proverb, essentially it means 'Children, fools and drunken men tell the truth'" Loki said plainly causing Emma to laugh  
"I guess we are all kids to you if you don't mind me asking why are you here. shouldn't you be in university?" Emma asked trying to be as friendly as possible. Loki gave her a strained smile.  
"I was, but my father suddenly decided to drag me back to the states and put me back through high school for reasons unknown to me," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. 

"And your fine with it?" Clint burst out. Loki slowly turned to look at him, his jaw clenched and expression strained.  
"no of course not, I am infuriated by the situation but if I ever desire to see my family again I will just have to make do," Loki said grabbing the attention of the whole class again. "I just have to keep my head down and stay quiet and hopefully he will forget about me enough that I can do what I want ad still enjoy life," He said sounding defeated.  
"dude that must suck" a boy near the front of the class said, " I thought my dad was mean"

Clint looked back at the new student and studied his face before saying " The names Clint, Clint Barton. as long as you don't cause me any trouble you can stick with me" he smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter, I ended up rewriting the chapter over ten times. I'm not completely happy with this chapter and like I did with chapter one, I will probably edit it later on when I have a better idea of what I want.  
> This story won't have a posting schedule due to it being written whenever I have time. Hope that you enjoy the story so far and feel free to tell me what you think is going to happen, you might just get lucky and end up right


	3. Cruet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to see what Loki is thinking. I hope you enjoy this chapter and that the next one is quicker to write.

It was strange, the underlining nervousness that came with being the new kid. It didn't matter how many times you experience it, it never went away. Though this time it was different. He wasn't the youngest in every class anymore, well he hadn't been for a while since he had achieved a higher education, eventually staying long enough that he caught up with those around him. He could at least pretend he was normal but the stigma of being 'that' kid never truly went away. Nor did the underline rumours and stories that were passed down to every new student, over time tough the people they involved left and the truth were left for him to tell but he never would. He would take those stories to the grave, only those who were there would ever know for sure what happened.

Fury had offered him a chance. It was a whole new experience, a whole new world where he was no longer the smallest, the youngest. It felt so freeing to be told he was the oldest, he couldn't remember a time when he had ever been older than anyone in his classes. Loki had entered school young and flew through his classes rising higher and higher until he was trapped in a place he would never belong. He could remember Odin saying he was going to attend a joint school so that he could get the education he needed but still be around others his age. The years of school he had completed in America had been a limbo, the kids his age he couldn't relate to and they ostracized him for his maturity and those he attended class with had other things on their minds than getting a good education, they couldn't stand the thought of someone years younger then them being top of the class. Everywhere he had turned there had been a glass wall separating him from everyone else. 

'The boy in a cruet.'  
That was what they closest thing to a friend would call him. Loki shivered as he recalled those softly spoken words that had been whispered in his ear hundreds of times and the hopeless disappear that came with them. Phantom vinegar rushed down his throat as he recalled the same person holding him down and forcing him to drink pure apple cider vinegar. He had been told that it was the price of being smart, that he shouldn't express his intelligence to those who were older.  
All he had done was say the word he thought his teacher was looking for, as she described a small glass bottle used to hold salt, pepper, oil and that vile vinegar. He had only wanted to be helpful, he never meant to offend or insinuate that he was smarter than everyone including her.  
everywhere he went after that he was reminded of his mistake. loki doubted that anyone would have been able to tell that those five letters meant months of torment. 

he wondered what had happened to his locker when Odin ripped him out of that school. last he checked 'Cruet' was still scratched onto the metal door and a bag of table salt pushed in the corner. He never kept his belongings in there when school was over. Loki frowned thinking of some kid inheriting the locker after him and never understanding what it meant. 

Loki took in a deep breath to try and wipe away those memories from his mind, he couldn't afford to walk down that road. He concentrated on the back of the man walking in front of him. watching Fury as he walked with confidence and existed as a heavy presence, drawing attention and foreboding. Matching the principal's pace step for step pulled Loki back to his thoughts, the slow march giving him time to reflect on what he had truly just agreed to, time he wished he didn't have. Only fifteen minutes had passed and already his insides were trying to claw their way out.

He felt sick. He was no longer the youngest, he was now the oldest. Deep down he was scared, how was he supposed to do what he had been asked when the second oldest was maybe nineteen but even that was highly unlikely. He was going to be at least three years older than any other student and though that meant little to adults, it meant everything to kids. He was going to be the outliner, it was the same as before only reversed. He forever going to be in exile where ever he roamed.

The horrendous mix of emotions bubbled in his stomach and threatened to spill over. His attempts to reign in his thoughts were meet with the sensation of needing to vomit. Dizzying nausea added itself on to pounding headache only making it worse. He was fighting the need to run to the nearest bathroom, even though he knew there was nothing to throw up in the first place.

Despite the current situation the last month had been terrible in its own right. In just the last three days he hadn't seen a wink of sleep nor a crumb to consume. 59 hours of hunger and exhaustion, as well as the trip from hell, really took it out of you. He had travelled through three countries, four time zones and he could barely see straight.

He had been given absolutely no warning when Odin's brawn for hire had grabbed him and threw him on the back seat of the half broke down truck, then thrown on equally cheap planes that were meant to carry him safely across the world. Odin hadn't even thought about food and the fact that he might need some or he had and decided that Loki could go without. Really he didn't know he couldn't remember if that level cruelty from Odin was real or if it was the image he had given his father over the years. Either way between the foodless plan tickets and the abrupt way he had been taken Loki had been given no opportunity to grab any money or even his phone for that matter, Leaving him with no way to buy food if he wanted to.

He had in theory been given plenty of time to sleep. He could of sleepy on the plane ride or while he waited for his next flight, given he had been waiting in Iceland and Seattle for over six hours each. Plenty of time if you could sleep on a plane constantly feeling as if it was falling or burst into flames. The fact you were in a new country surrounded by people who might do god knows what with your helpless, sleeping, weak, unsuspecting form didn't help either. Yes plenty of opportunities to rest, there was also the near constant panic attacks that were threatening to surface at every turn. His stress and anxiety had been pushed to great proportions throughout the whole trip. Just the thought of unknown threats that surrounded him had almost driven him insane. There wasn't even time to think about what had happened.

 

He was sure Odin had hated him before but the recent events had just cemented the thought even more. Odin had just dumped him in another country and had cut all contact. After a year of writing home almost every single day and never getting a response, it had become clear that he was unwanted. It had been an ingenious way to get rid of the broken, soiled son. Remove the disgrace from the family and let the blight fade into the land of the forgot. To anyone who bothered to ask after him, he was being provided with the best education. Slowly over time, everyone would forget the firstborn son and the second would take his place. Thor would be everything he couldn't be, it had been obvious when the bright shining boy had only been six that the two were complete opposites. Frigga had been struggling to even get him to try and read and Loki had been put in a year three class at that age.  
Thor was all that Odin had ever wanted. He loved sports, an optimist, no matter what always smiling. A perfect blend of his parent's looks and was already showing signs of growing up to be a strong independent young man while Loki still grabbed at his mother's gown to make sure she would stay near. Like a toddler who derived comfort by clinging to her side. Odin had hated that, had yelled at him on multiple occasions. calling him weak, telling him it was time to grow up. 

Thor was the more loved son, he had come to accept that fact, had learned his place. After he had managed to find his feet he had worked as hard as he could in hopes that he could make up for his shortcomings. That maybe Odin would find him worthy as he pushed himself even harder. He hadn't stopped sending letters home but the hope had died long ago. He built his world around is exile and made a life out of his isolation. As far as he cared he would never see or hear from his family for the rest of his life. 

He was surviving, thriving in his own messed up way. Life was simple and he understood, manipulated it to his gain the best he could but that all changed three days ago when four larger men walked up to him. yanking him off his feet and throwing his weakened body over their shoulder, they dragged him away from his security. His entire existence had been cracked in two when they had growled.

"We have been given ordered to get you home"

All it had taken was those words to turn his whole life upside down. He was home, the small organised dorm in the middle of nowhere was his home. As far as he was concerned he had nowhere else in the world that could even be considered a home. so why were they taking him away?

A small voice reminded him that he had almost died, that he couldn't fight back because his body was still trying to recover from the ghost-like state he was in. His heart had lept at the thought, Odin had been told and was rushing him back into the safety of his arms because he loved him. That Odin was scared of losing his son.

Then he realised that Odin left him because he wasn't strong enough, so why would he take him back when he had been found shivering, unconscious and malnourished on his bathroom floor. He had been suffering from a severe case of meningitis and had been unable to even manage to get himself to the school nurse. He had tried to wait it out, in hope that it would pass but it had cost him dearly. His weight had dropped from 168ibs to 105ibs in the time frame he was sick and his memory of the time was non-existent.

The only reason he was alive was that one of Surtur's wannabe heirs had come to take what they thought they were owed. He had lucky that the intruder still had some sought of a conscience and took him to the nurse instead of acting out his original plans of just taking what he thought he deserved, like most people Loki knew would of.

That thought sent a chill down his spine, that had been one of the few kind acts a stranger had ever done for him and to think of what would have happened if he hadn't been on death's door. It just helped the dark seated feeling of worthlessness sink in even further.

His life wasn't perfect, a lot of people had told him it was terrible but it was the life he knew. It was safe (at least to him), comfortable, he had learned to understand the people around him and had scraped happiness out of misery, had become accustomed to it. He was in control, he knew how to be in control. Now he was being shipped off to a place he didn't understand, where he wasn't in control and that scared him.

Odin was taking away what little peace he had and he wouldn't even tell him why. He was just grabbed one morning by a man he didn't know and forced to leave everything behind. He had gone into shock, the panic of losing all he had taking over. At least Odin had been kind enough to pay to have his room emptied and sent to where ever he was going.

In truth, he hadn't believed that he was even going 'home' the place Odin would assume he would consider such. For a time he did but he had thrown the notion out the window. The Fates never had his side. He was more inclined to believe Odin had grown tired of playing for him to remain in Vanaheim boarding school, making his way through every degree he could get his hands on and instead be dumped some were random were he would have to fend for himself. Probably would have to learn another whole new language just to get by again, it had been hard enough the first time. Though here he was on American soil and supposedly in the very same school Thor attended. He was right though it wasn't 'home' it was someplace else where he had no memories or connections, might as well been a different planet.

Come to think of it he hadn't spoken a word of English in over three years, even then it was minimal. Most people didn't speak English outside of the classroom and that had only been once a week when he was still in high school. The whole flight over he had been worried that he wouldn't even remember his own first language, in fact, he was more fluent in every other language he knew then he was in English.

Loki groaned and tried to get control of his thoughts once again. He was confused, he was sure Odin had abandoned him somewhere once again when his last plane touched down in Minnesota. His family lived in Washington, D.C. that was where he grew up, that was 'home' so it was a no-brainer that he had been left to fend for himself.

Then he had been given the address of this school and been forced to walk through that hellish storm for over an hour with directions sloppily writes down by a drunk who was the only person kind enough to give him directions in the first place. Then have a rather tense meeting with a complete stranger who claimed that he was wrong and that yes his family was here.

At least waiting around in the airport in Seattle had given him the time to try and get reacquainted with his mother tongue. Six hours, plenty of time to practice speaking English before he had to speak with Fury. Not that he knew he had needed to at the time.

He felt sorry for that poor young woman who had actually tried to help him when he accidentally started talking to her in Swedish then switched to Russian when he tried to correct his mistake. She had gotten a laugh when she realised he actually did know English and wasn't a hopelessly lost tourist who couldn't speak a word of the language. Instead was just struggling to get out basic phrases and completely jumbling them up after being abroad for such a long time. She had sat with him for three hours as she waited for her flight and she retaught him English. It had been a slow and embarrassing process but he had picked it back up eventually and In thanks, he taught her some mandarin for her holiday in Hong Kong. Which for his part was highly amusing.

When he finally meet Fury he was saying complete sentences and understood every word, if it took him a while to translate no one needed to know. He sounded more British than American and there was an obvious foreign accent hidden underneath but Fury had made no note of it, which he was thankful for. He could fix the accent later if he really cared to but for now he had to focus on what was at hand.

Thor attended this school and Odin wanted them to be in the same year? It didn't make sense. When had they moved and if Odin wanted to make his life miserable why let him come back, why put himself back under scrutiny for having a failure for a son. Why draw more attention to him, nothing was lining up. Odin sent him to boarding school to hide him, to separate him from the family so why put him back near the family and put an adult back through school he couldn't understand it. It was like putting a giant sign saying look at me. 

The press would have a field day when they learned of his return. He had only been young but he could recall what the magazines would say about him when he had just been a young boy playing pranks. No doubt they had been relentless when he had been shipped off, so it was fair to say they would voice their opinions on his return. He could already imagine the chaos as the press swarmed like blood sucking mosquitos on the story of a senator's 22-year-old son attending high school. Some would say it was due to a lack of intelligence and others would probably say that he was a creep preying on young boys and girls as he pretended to be a student. In his opinion, the media outcry would be worse than any benefit that could come out of this arrangement.

Loki looked at Fury and studied the way he walked to try and distract his mind, he had a purpose here. One that wasn't defined by Odin but went behind him. He was scared by all that could go wrong besides what the media though. He may be taller and older but he was still different and people didn't like different. Being severely held back was worse than being greatly ahead of those your age. One, people felt threatened because you were something higher than them that they couldn't reach. The other being held back just made people think you were stupid. He just knew it was going to end badly, Mainly for him. 

-/:0:\\-

Loki took in a deep breath as Fury knocked on the door of his first class and tried to hold back his surprise when an elderly woman in a wheelchair greeted them. She had slightly tanned skin and her long silver hair was pulled out of her face and she wore an orange striped jacket. She quirked an eyebrow at fury as she looked Loki up and down.  
"who might this young man be?" she said in a smooth British accent.  
"Annabel this is a new student he will be attending your class for the foreseeable future. There are things that we need to discuss but for now, I will just introduce the two of you" fury said turning to Loki nodding. 

"Hello mam my name is Loki Odinson, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" Loki gave a small graceful bow to the older women who chuckled at the display.

"Warner, that's Ms Warner to you young man. Welcome to this academy, why don't we introduce you to the class than Fury and I can discuss what we need too while you get settled," she said. turning to Fury the two talked for a few minutes covering what they needed to before they could go on. Loki could hear the quiet murmuring of the students inside.

"That sounds like a plan to me," Fury said indicating for Ms Warner to open the door and the three entered the classroom

The class went silent as the door opened as they entered. Every pair of eyes were focused on him and He started to feel self-conscious. All too aware of how dishevelled he looked and the sopping wet tangled mess sitting on his shoulder and internally he growled. He was past uncomfortable at this stage and just wanted to hide somewhere so he could at least dry off.

Ms Warner cleared her throat and addressed the class. Loki didn't take any notice of what she was saying and only went to move when she indicated for him to, trying to pretend that the gawking stares of the students didn't bother him. Before he could take a seat Fury grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear causing the students to start whispering amongst themselves.  
"That boy in the back corner, he is one of the students on want you to keep an eye one. I suggest taking a seat near him" Fury had said indicating to the blonde boy wearing a dark purple shirt under a black jacket in the corner, he looked like he had a bruise on his neck that had almost completely faded. From experience, Loki would guess someone had tried to strangle him. 

Doing as Fury said he made a way to the back of the class. He frowned as he walked up the stair-like structure the desks were seated on wondering whose idea it was to put disabled women in a class she couldn't move around in. He was almost at the back wall when Ms Warner called out 

"If you are going to sit in the back please at least sit next to Barton so I can keep an eye on the both of you" she sighed.

Internally he smirked, a perfect excuse to be closer to his target. what better reason would he get then being told to sit next to him. The boy's name was Barton and he meet his gaze when he deliberately slowly turned his head to look at him. Arching an even brow at the blonde, silently asking him to object.

Barton reluctantly moved his belongings, Loki took his seat next to him and tried to ignore his discomfort as the wet fabric of his pants pulled on his skin as he moved. Focusing his attention on the board reading what had been written there, after a quick glance he determined that it was boring.

Loki registered Ms Warner and Fury's exit and smirked as she ordered them to behave, if memory served correctly that was the last thing that was going to happen.

Just as he predicted the moment the door shut the class exploded into questions directed at him. It amused him as they all talked over each other trying to get a word in. though it quickly became unamusing as his headache only grew worse.

He said what he had meant to be 'chill' but he was pretty sure it didn't come out in English. Racking a hand through his hair in annoyance, whatever he did say caused the class to go silent and he sighed in relief, quite was good. Though that was short lived as they exploded into more questions.

He grimaced as the questions flew in, they couldn't wait until he was no longer sick and exhausted to dig at him, could they?

Loki shook his head with a chuckle saying " Av barn, fyllon och dårar får man höra sanningen." purposely speaking Swedish to get their attention. The class went quiet again looking at him in confusion. which would have brought a smile to his face if they didn't start talking again amongst them selfs. He could live with the looks he was being given for now at least they were quieter than before.

Surveying the group of students in front of him Loki took into account those who were simply curious and those who seem to be planning what to say next to get a rise out of him when his attention was grabbed by a young girl stood up from her seat. 

"Hey cut it out, leave the poor guy alone" Loki looked up at a brunette girl with hazel eyes who peered angerly at her classmates. She wasn't very tall but she had a fiery spirit to he "show some manners" she growled. "Hi I'm Kitty Pryde, this is Pete Wisdom and that's Emma Frost but be careful of her if you get too close you'll get frostbite" Pryde said smiling pointing to a boy with black hair and blue eyes, who Loki thought he looked like a jerk and a girl with platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes. This Frost girl grabbed his attention, she was wearing all white and her face had been carefully rendered with makeup. The pale blue lipstick was a nice touch. "Sorry about them their idiots" she frowned slightly then looked back to him "you do speak English right? I haven't just said all that for nothing"

Loki smiled at the young brunette sitting in the desk across from him as she sat down slightly embarrassed. He took note of the way she scrunched up her nose when she was nervous, looking to her friend Wisdom for support. 

"Yes, I do speak English but I might be a little rusty" Loki flashed her what he hoped was a charming smile, focusing on the nice girl in front of him was a better idea then thinking about the questions the other students had thrown at him "it's a pleasure to meet you and your friends miss Pryde" She smiled victoriously and her attention was brought back to Wisdom as she whispered something in his ear. Loki chuckled at her glee but a frown started to take its place as wisdom just ignored the girl and shrugged her off his arm, that guy was oblivious or just a jerk Loki thought. 

"So what language was that I don't think I have ever heard it before," Loki turned back to Frost. the two talked and he noticed how she subconsciously tried to draw attention to her 'assets' the shirt she was wearing was probably just on the line of being off the dress code and she would bite her lip when he was talking. Leaning forward and pushing her chest forward. She obviously was self-conscious and felt she needed the attention of boys to feel worth. The two were talking about his current situation when Barton suddenly cut in.

"And your fine with it?" Clint burst out.

Loki took a second to actually recall what he said, having fallen into the habit of talking without saying anything. 

"No of course not, I am infuriated by the situation but if I ever desire to see my family again I will just have to make do," Loki said grimacing when he noticed that the whole class had their eyes back on him "I just have to keep my head down and stay quiet and hopefully he will forget about me enough that I can do what I want ad still enjoy life," He let himself sound defeated hoping it will allow the students to connect with him better. 

"Dude that must suck" a boy near the front of the class said, " I thought my dad was mean" Loki masked a smile at the comment thinking 'you have no idea.' He noticed that Barton was staring at him and turned to look at him

"The names Clint, Clint Barton. as long as you don't cause me any trouble you can stick with me" he smiled. Loki cheered on the inside, half the work was done already now he just had to make friends.

The two of them talked quietly till the bell rang about nothing in general. Barton pointing out a few of the students telling him their names and how annoying they were.


	4. Hexagrams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A really short chapter this time.  
> The next bit is being a little troublesome to get out so I just split it into two.

Barton snatched the timetable from Loki's hand as the bell went and the class got up to leave. Loki raised an eyebrow as he looked up at his new classmate. A slight smirk pulling his lips

"what are you doing?" Loki chuckled

"Checking what classes we have together if I am going to allow the tall weirdo to tag along I need to know what classes you have," Barton said matter of factly. " On that note, we have a free together right now so I'll give you a quick tour of the school. that alright with you?" Barton smirked giving the piece of paper back to its owner. 

"That's fine with me" Loki laughed in disbelief. 

"So, Loki. what sort of name is that?" Barton smirked as he led the way out of the class and into the busy hall flooded with students rushing to their next classes. Loki shook his head with a sigh as he followed the shorter boy through the crowds taking note of the people they passed. He noticed the blonde girl that had led him to the principal's office trying to convince a tall blonde boy who was most likely a jock to stop harassing a short brunette boy alongside a redhead girl before answering Bartons question. 

"It's the name my parents gave me" he answered flatly, Barton shrugged.

"Ok, fine be that way," he said nonchalantly then continued to point out classrooms and the like as they moved around only stopping when they came in front of two metal doors. "And ... this is the best place in the whole school and where I like to spend my free time." A smile spread across his face as he threw open the doors revealing an archery range. "Bet you didn't have one of these at your old school" Barton bosted with superiority.

Loki let a devilish smirk spread across his face, his school did have an archery range and it was bigger than the one he currently stood in. It also happened to be a gun range, which considering the emotional state of a large number of students was probably a horrible idea. 

"They put this and a whole tonne of other niche areas in to make sure everyone has the equal chance to pursue their interest not that there are teachers for all of them but its something," Barton told him walking over to the equipment rake to grab his favourite bow and arrow. Turning toward the targets he let an arrow loose and got a perfect bull's eye, a proud grin spreading across his face. Looking over his shoulder Barton pointed to the target. "you ever tried this before? it's ok if you haven't I can teach you." He said flaunting his supposed superiority.

Loki walked over to the rake and grabbed a bow and six arrows and stood next to the teen. Barton raised an eyebrow as he watched Loki hold all six arrows in his draw hand and cock his arrow on the right side of his bow. He went to say something when the older let loose his first arrow. It flew through the air and hit the target on very top of the outer yellow ring. 

"Not bad with a little practice you-" 

Barton never got to finish his sentence, shocked to silence as Loki shot the other five arrows in under two seconds. Looking back and forth at the target and his companion, he was shocked to see what would be a perfect hexagon if he drew a line between each arrow. All six were an equal distance from each other and sat perfectly on the scoreline. 

"Man! how did you do that" he sputtered, staring wide-eyed at the tall dark haired man who was boasting a Cheshire grin. Turning Barton grabbed six more arrows and shoved them into his hand. "do that again" he commanded in disbelief "I freaking need to see that again.

Remaining silent Loki let himself chuckled internally as he turned to repeat his trick, he gave himself a few seconds to decide if he should make a dodecagon by simply placing arrow between the already existing ones or try something else. Making his decision he took a deep breath and rapid fired his arrows making a second pentagon tilted slightly around the first so that they made an almost perfect hexagon. 

Staring at the target Loki felt his grip began to tighten and he clenched his jaw. There was a small mistake, hardly noticeable but it caused the fire of rage to begin to burn inside his chest. His eyes focused on nothing but that one wayward arrow and calculated what went wrong, running through every mistake and his body was wound tighter than the bowstring he had just manipulated with every second. 

He only snapped out of it when he heard the slight shuffle of feet and saw Barton staring at him in fear. The boy wanted to get away from him but was trying to stay still not want to fall to what he saw was weakness. Barton squirmed under Loki's unintentional ice-cold gaze and stumbled over his words. 

" T... thaaat, that was amazin- ah cool" Barton said shakily stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I can't believe... anyone could make- ah do something like that" he tried. Looking for a way to calm Loki down. "That's a perfect star, I would be ecstatic if I could do that normally let alone what you just did. " a nervous laugh left his mouth. 

Loki despised the fear in the Bartons eyes and mentally berated himself for being the corse of it. Taking a deep breath and realising it in a sigh, forcing all of the sudden anger out with it. Putting the bow down on the ground and running a hand through his hair, sneering when his fingers ran into a large knot. 

"My apologies, I let my self-get away there," he said smoothly refusing to look at The young archer. It was a bit of a shock, the fear in his eyes. He had seen a lot of things in the eyes of others but fear wasn't high among them. 

He didn't like how it had felt, it was bitter and was like acid on his skin. He didn't want people to look at him with fear, he was all too familiar with how it feels. 

"Dude what the fuck!?" Was all Barton could say "one minute your super chill the next I thought you were about to start killing people" he burst out. The fear seeming to of completely leaving him. 

Loki made a point of looking embarrassed, he knew he wasn't the most expressive person anymore so it was important to purposely show how he actually felt if he actually wanted people to stick around. 

"Why the hell did you even get mad in the first place that shit was perfect" Barton pointed to the board in disbelief. 

"It wasn't" came Loki's short reply " one of the arrows is off-" he didn't get to finish as Barton cut over him with a loud'WHAT'  
before marching to the target and eyeing the arrows trying to find what he was talking about. 

"Ok one, that his hardly off course and two, how did you see that from all the way over there. Don't tell me you're a cyborg sent from Marz to study us, Tony would go nuts if he saw this" Barton said frustration evident in his voice. 

"Tony?" Loki simply asked not wanting to talk about him being a perfectionist.Or a cyborg. 

"Ah, yeah, right, Tony... you wouldn't have met him yet. He's a genius and a complete idiot, the guy loves conspiracy theories. A complete nutjob if you ask me" Barton said flippantly. 

"You say 'conspiracy theories' like it's a bad thing" Loki let a small smirk greet his lips. 

"Argh, don't tell me your one of them" Barton groaned 

"I have been involved in my fair share" Loki almost purred. Thinking about how what he was taking part in could possibly become one soon if he wasn't careful. 

"I guess I'll introduce you to him that way you can talk about the school putting cameras in our lockers" Barton rolled his eyes.

Loki started to laugh but stopped as a shot of pain went through his skull, he suddenly felt hands on him and flinched. Looking down to see Barton's worried face staring up at him, carefully holding onto his arms. 

"You ok you looked like you were about to fall over?" He asked quietly. 

"I think it's just a migraine, haven't gotten much sleep lately" Loki winched pressing his hand to his forehead. 

"Well, we have sometime before lunch if you wanna try and get some rest" Barton offered him a small smile. 

Loki nodded his head and allowed Barton to guide his body to the floor. Barton made fun of his long limbs as he forced him into a comfortable position.   
"You do know I can lay down by my self," Loki said playfully. 

"Yeah, but where would be the fun in that?" Barton smirked, "plus we can't let the old man fall over he might break his hip" he mocked and earned himself a weak slap on the shoulder. 

" I'm not that old," Loki said in mock horror " I only 'just' started using a cane" he smirked, rolling his eyes dramatically. 

...

The rest of the hour became a bit of a blur to him. He was later lying on the cold hard floor unable to sleep but thankful for any rest he could get. 

Barton continued to practice and Loki found it amusing to watch him try and copy what he had done with various success. 

Whether it was the exhaustion or just a sudden not caring he couldn't place when, how or why Barton ended up perched on his chest while practising, Either way, Barton thought it was hysterical.


	5. who's the devilishly handsome (drowned, starved cat) of a man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hello, yes not dead, not forgotten. I just apparently hate Steve. this is the seventh version of this chapter as well as an attempt to right from Natasha's point of view. still not super happy with this chapter but I decided to move on from the bad relationship this chapter was.  
> though whos next?  
> with had Thor, Natasha, Tony, Fury, Clint, Loki, Clint again now Steve   
> I think someone needs some love just don't know who

The ding of the cafeteria filled Steves' ears as he walked into the overcrowded room. making his way over to his usual spot, waving at some of the kids he knew from class as they passed. Sitting at the same table he had occupied since his first day at the school and pulled his homemade lunch from his bag.   
working his way through the leftovers of last nights bolognese, Steve waited patiently for the rest of the group to arrive. 

Watching as more students filled the room creating a wave of swirling colours as they mingled with friends and moved about grabbing food from the lunch ladies and returning to their chosen seats. observing the movements of others was one of his favourite pass times and he found it always helped him with his sketches, having a large database of live references he could refer too. it was this past time that allowed him to notice as an unfamiliar face for the dining hall weaved through the amassing through the room. 

Steve was shocked to see the archer but what shocked him more was the unknown dark figure being pulled along behind him. He didn't like jumping to conclusions but the only thing that came to mind while looking at the stranger was either a emo, vampire or some kind of movie villain. He watched the two as they carefully made their way through the room to a deserted table in the corner that no one sat at due the fact it always felt like it was below 23 degrees due to the broken aircon that for some reason was never fixed. 

Clint sat down fist gesturing around to room to the stranger, presumably telling him small details about the room. The pair of toxic green eyes seemed to robotically scan the room as their owner preceded to stand ramrod straight. Not moving a muscle until Clint finished talking then gracefully sitting on the other side of the table. 

The guy made a chill creep down his spine, something about him unnerved Steve. The way he seemed to stick out from the rest of the room, like an alien amongst men. yet no one seemed to acknowledge him. The way he seemed to be invisible to anyone else made him even more suspicious of the unknown person, man. 

Brow furrowing his thoughts were only broken by Natasha silently sliding into the seat next to him.

"someones in deep thought" she smiled at him. "what? did first period give you something interesting to ponder on?" Her rose lips curled into a teasing smile.   
"Oh, no. I just was thinking about something" Steve quickly supplied adverting his eyes from his two subjects and turned his full attention to his friend.   
"not going to tell me what you're thinking about?" Natasha said teasingly. leaning closer bumping his arm with her elbow.   
Steve smiled at her and thought of something else that had been bothering him.   
"you know what, I can't get my head around this 'Thor's brother' business. it just seems so strange" he sighed looking at the table.   
Natasha frowned "that's been bothering me too," she said quietly. "It just seems off. Thor, has a brother? Why didn't he ever tell us about him?" She sighed "I'm worried about what his brother is going to be like, how has this boarding school possibly affected him?"   
Steve thought about it for a few minutes. " I don't think the pranks are the full reason he was sent away, it's got to be more than that." He contemplated " it feels kind of like he brought some sought of shame to the family, that they sent him away to hide something"  
Natasha frowned "but that's it why the sudden departure and then return. why only a days notice, something like these should at least have a couple of days to sink in. not just suddenly dropped on you before school the day before."   
steve pondered, running a hand over his lips in thought.   
" it feels like Thor's father was trying to prevent it from happening so didn't say anything until he couldn't do anything about it. so does that mean the brother is suddenly forcing his way back home or is something else at work?"  
Natasha leaned back in her seat looking at the ceiling.   
" I guess we just have to wait to find out" she huffed out through thinned lips. 

It was at that moment that Tony decided to make his grand appearance. sliding across the room and sitting across from the pair. A wide smile on his lips as he peached his head atop his hand and just looked at them like he was looking at his favourite dessert. 

the two looked at each other, eyebrows raised, then back to there new arrival.   
"whats' got you so chipper?" Steve chuckled.   
"Oh, this and that" Tony waved off with his free hand. "oh and that I now have a story to tell you" he grinned even wider.   
Natasha sighed leaning against the table " fine spit it out tony". 

Tony enthusiastically jumped into some story about his morning events and how everyone in the school where a bunch of wusses for being scared by a little thunder. Steve had zoned out thinking back to his previous conversation, he only decided to tune back in when he heard Tony describe a man that looked like a typical movie serial killer.

"he was tall, thin, covered in black and looked like he was about to slaughter someone. you should have seen how freaked out everyone else was, obviously, they have never watched a proper horror movie in their life because they were scared shi-" Tony was interrupted by mid-sentence by steves disapproving glare "oh sorry forgot there was an old timer at the table. they where scared spinless" he teased. 

Nat scoffed " as if you weren't freaked out as well"   
"uh, was not" Tony declared indignantly.   
" Well, going by how you told the story I would say each of those thoughts were your own and not someone else's version since as you said, you were there." she rolled her eyes, looking to steve for backup. 

Steve though, was to busy being caught up in the description of the person. "hang on what did this person look like, I want more details" he said not really paying attention to the rest of the conversation.   
Tony whistled "I see captain Rogers is back to earth, why do you want to know so much. oh, I don't care, He was tall and I mean tall, taller than most people in this building. He had to be in his early twenties at least, though couldn't be any older than twenty-five. Thin as in, probably should go to an eating disorder clinic thin and probably hasn't gotten sleep in weeks by the dark rings around his eyes. which, which were like this unnatural green that seemed to just glow, creepy, and his skin was a white as snow. covered head to toe in black clothes and sporting the most tangled mop of black hair I've ever seen and probably the longest hair I have ever seen." Tony took in a deep breath, grinned and said, "good enough for you Cap?" 

Steve slowly turned his gaze to the pair sitting by themselves in the corner. Tony and Nat noticed and followed his gaze.  
"WOW! wow wow wow, that's him" Tony blurted out, standing to point at the stranger. Who was leaning against his hand, a slight smirk was pulling on his lips and he watched Clint pointing to people around the room. They were too far away to hear but Steve could only assume that it was probably ill-spirited.   
"that Clint with him, why would he be hanging around that guy?" Nat pondered, continuing to watch the pair.  
None of them said anything as they watched Clint burst into laughter at something the dark figure said, covering his mouth with his hands trying to stifle his laughter.   
Steve turned his attention back to his friends, all three the perfect reflection of each other's confusion.   
They sat quietly and watched as the pair's conversation died and they sat in comfortable silence, the unknown entity looked like he was slowly falling asleep where he sat when the lunch lady Steve always forgot the name of walked across the room towards the two.   
Her hand delicately landing on the stranger's shoulder, despite her delicacy he flinched awake suddenly whipping around to look at the startled woman. His face relaxed as he looked at her and an easy going smile covered the shock expression that had flashed across his features.   
The two talked for a while before moving towards the food bar, passing Steve on the way, he caught part of their conversation.   
"it's a pleasure to meet you Ms Mac'Ill'Fhionndaig, I must thank you for your offer. I will admit I am absolutely famished." The smooth melodic voice of the stranger washed over the group of friends and somehow managed to both calm Steve and creep him out even more. The delighted laughter of Ms Mac'Ill'Fhionndaig didn't help.   
"Oh, your a keeper" she teased "I haven't heard someone say my name right since I left Ireland. let alone of the first try," a smile stretched her features in pure delight. The stranger boasting a charming smile of his own. 

The three couldn't help but stare as the two passed, Steves eyes meeting the two unnaturally green eyes of the young man as he passed. There was something that was hypnotic about his gaze and as their eye contact broke Steve felt the disturbing urge to follow them. 

It wasn't till Tony snapped his fingers directly in front of steves face that he snapped out of his trance.


End file.
